By Haaretz Service

Seven machines donated by Norwegian
agency confiscated en route to PA over chance generators attached could
be used for purposes other than medical treatment, Ma’an reports.

June 26, 2010

Israel confiscated seven oxygen machines en route to hospitals in the
West Bank and Gaza based on the claim that there was a chance the
generators attached to the machines would not be used for medical
purposes, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported Saturday.

According to Ma’an, the Ramallah-based health ministry said that the
generators, which were donated to the Palestinian Authority by a
Norwegian development agency, were seized by Israeli officials despite
the fact that only one machine was bound for Gaza.

The generators "came under the category of possible use for non-medical
purposes" if they were delivered to southern Gaza, the Palestinian
health ministry said in a statement, adding that the six other machines
were bound for government hospitals in the northern Gaza, inducing the
European Hospital in Gaza City, the Rafdieyah hospital in Nablus, and
other facilities in Ramallah and Hebron.

The Ministry of Health appealed to the Norwegian Development Agency,
which supplied the machines, and asked that they intervene and demand
the release of the equipment at the soonest possible date, Ma’an
reported.

"Any delay in obtaining the medical equipment will negatively affect the
health of patients," the statement concluded.